Cheney: Hillary Clinton should run

That was former Vice President Dick Cheney’s advice to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — take on Barack Obama in 2012.

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“I think it would be good for the country [for Clinton to run for president]; I think that it would be good for the Democratic Party — it might even help the Republicans a little bit,” the former vice president said with a smirk, in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Wednesday to promote his new memoir, “In My Time.”

The former vice president said that Clinton might have an opening because of the stagnant economy.

“Maybe if the Obama record is bad enough — and these days it’s not very good, given the shape of the economy — maybe there will be enough ferment in the Democratic Party so that there will be a primary on their side,” said Cheney.

“So far she hasn’t said she would [run], but I think it’s not a bad idea,” said Cheney.

Cheney said he was surprised Clinton didn’t beat Obama in the 2008 presidential primaries. “Frankly, I thought she was gonna win the nomination last time around,” Cheney said.

Clinton has said in interviews that she intends to stay on as secretary of state through Obama’s first term but then intends to return to private life.

Cheney was complimentary toward Clinton during the interview, saying “I think she’s probably the most competent person they’ve got in their Cabinet.”

His comments come as a new poll shows that, among those who voted for Obama, only 70 percent now support his handling of the economy — that’s down from 79 percent in October 2010.

The same poll showed that only 32 percent of Democrats currently believe that the country is headed in the right direction.